After 20+ years as a stay-at-home dad, I've just made the transition to "merely unemployed." Fortunately, this has given me some time to write! My first new story in many years, The First Galactic Princess – A Bedtime Story is done! I've made it available as a free download at Smashwords.

Back in the 70s I had a few short stories published, and I've recently made them available at Smashwords. Now there's a new one! I've drawn on my love of Science Fiction, and my experience as a teller of bedtime stories.

Quote:

Short description -- The first galactic princess is a little girl growing up in a wonderful place. She faces an ordinary problem with the help of a friend and the support of an understanding father. There are no spaceships, ancient prophecies or threatening aliens. There is, however, a hover car -- kids need to dream about hover cars!

The First Galactic Princess -- A Bedtime Story is finally available at Barnes & Noble. This one took much longer to get there than my others, and they have no description of the story or bio for me. I guess they must have their hands full closing up Fictionwise and consolidating the customer base.

I didn't have any particular age range in mind. Mostly, the idea for the story hit when I was working at something else and got stuck. I remembered the old rule about writing "what you know." Science fiction and bedtime stories came to mind.

This is the kind of story I would have read to my kids when they were pre-schoolers. I wouldn't expect them to know all the words or concepts -- it's more about the sound of the words and the cadence. I'd expect them to ask about things that we could talk about as they (hopefully) fell asleep. My daughter was always more interested in these stories than my son, and thus the Princess was born.

Given that it's short and free, I seriously considered putting up a second version with a Prince -- but that seemed a bit too gimmicky.

Just thought I'd bump this up. The First Galactic Princess, a short science fiction bedtime story, is my first new story in years. It's available at Smashwords (and Barnes & Noble, Kobo, etc.) as a free download. It's not at Amazon because I'd have to list it at $.99 -- I'd much rather keep it free.

I don't have I-devices, so I don't often check Itunes, but I did happen to look tonight and The First Galactic Princess -- a Bedtime Story, has a solid 4-Star rating. Of the six individual ratings, four are 5-Stars. If you have a very young daughter (or son) who likes bedtime stories and has a sense of wonder, give it a look.

Free at Smashwords and just about everywhere else (except Amazon -- they wouldn't let me post it for free).

The First Galactic Princess -- A Bedtime Story is up to eight reviews at Apple -- five of them are for 5 stars.

I've been checking the daily reports at Smashwords and it turns out about half of my downloads these days are coming from Apple, and nearly all of them are for The First Galactic Princess. If you don't have an Apple device to read on, I invite you to check it out at Smashwords. Or Kobo, or Barnes & Noble, etc.

The First Galactic Princess -- A Bedtime Story still accounts for most of my downloads at Apple. If you haven't discovered it yet, I invite you to drop by Smashwords -- or Kobo, or Barnes & Noble, etc. -- to check it out.

And if you have a young child with a budding sense of wonder, this would be a good ... bedtime story!

The First Galactic Princess -- A Bedtime Story is now, officially, my most downloaded story. In particular, it's a favorite at Apple, where it has seven 5-Star ratings, a 4-Star rating ... and three 1-Star ratings. I guess you either really like it, or you really don't.

It's available at the usual ebook dealers, or in multiple (DRM-free) formats at Smashwords. It's free.